John 3: 16 - 17, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. NKJV
Genesis 12: 1 - 2, Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. NKJV
By His very nature, God is a giver. He gave mankind life in the beginning. Later, when man sinned and became separated from the life of God, He so loved the world that He gave us His only- begotten Son. Jesus then gave His life so that we might be redeemed from the curse of sin and death.
Even though God created Adam in a way that caused him to have needs, He did not intend for man/us to become needy. Why did God create us with requirements? It is because His desire was for us to be dependent upon Him to supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. It gives God great pleasure to prosper His children. Even so, Satan exploited our needs and used them to draw man away from God's provisions, thus causing us to look to ourselves as our own provider.
As long as Adam and Eve looked to God, they were blessed and provided for. However, the moment man "thought or believed" that he could take care of himself, the blessings and provisions dried up; and we became separated from the life and blessings of the Lord. What happened to man (male and female) that caused them to become cursed? Through sin and selfishness, Satan took the part of us that was needful, and should have trusted in God to provide for us, and caused mankind to become "takers" instead of being "receivers."
Now that we know what caused the curse of poverty and lack for mankind, we must turn back to the Lord with whole hearts and allow Him to be our Provider once again. We must become dependent upon the Lord to take care of our daily needs. As we learn to trust in the Lord (over time), He will cause an increase to come upon our lives so that we can be a blessing to others. We see this principle in Genesis 12; God appeared to Abram and promised to make him great and to prosper him so he could be a blessing.
Again, I stress this point: even though God created man with the need to be dependent, He never intended for mankind to become needy. Being impoverished comes from a lack of God's blessing, truth, and presence on an individual's heart; it doesn't come from a lack of material wealth. Remember, all of man's needs were provided before sin entered the heart of mankind. Sin separated us from the blessing and the life of God; it made us poor. Jesus is the remedy for poverty and lack. He tells us in Matthew 5: 3,"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." NKJV
If we truly trust in the Lord to provide for us, then we will obey His Word concerning giving. God focuses on giving throughout His Word so that He can teach us how to become blessed. Giving keeps the focus of our hearts off self and places it on the needs of others. Giving produces a flow of supernatural blessings in our lives so that we can be a blessing to others. Through our giving, we are able to be witnesses of God's love and generosity to others that don't know Him as their Provider.
When we give in obedience to His Word or the Holy Spirit, we are showing God that we trust Him in our hearts. The more we trust Him and give, the greater He can increase our ability to prosper so that we can be an even greater blessing to others. Let's get the flow of God's life, love, and blessings back into our lives by keeping God's command to give. Let's break the curse of poverty off our lives by looking to God to be our Provider and giving as He leads us.
Operating in the Flow of God's Blessing,
Pastor Asa Dockery
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